‘Damage control’ after EC row: Congress demands SIR rollback, CEC’s resignation

The Congress party has demanded the immediate suspension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and called for the resignation or prosecution of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, following a media report and widespread protests. The party accused the Election Commission of engaging in damage control after the report, which highlighted differences among the three election commissioners.

Congress leaders Pawan Khera and Jairam Ramesh accused the EC of disenfranchising millions of voters through the SIR exercise and questioned the Commission's explanation regarding changes to Form 6, used to add names to electoral rolls.

Khera and Ramesh alleged that the Election Commission's press note was insufficient and did not directly address the concerns raised by the media and the public. They pointed out that the Commission had only issued a defensive statement after the media reports and protests demanding the removal of Kumar. The party also questioned the EC's reliance on a Supreme Court order from May 27, which they claimed had preceded the recent revelations about the deletion of targeted voters.

The Congress party further criticized the EC's decision to involve experts from IITs and IIITs to review the ECINET portal, arguing that it was a meaningless safeguard and confirmed the concerns raised by the other two election commissioners. They also raised questions about the deletion of young voters, known as Gen Z, and alleged that the EC had not addressed concerns over the deliberate targeting of this demographic.